US5699092A - Ink-jet recording device - Google Patents

Ink-jet recording device Download PDF

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Publication number
US5699092A
US5699092A US08/082,379 US8237993A US5699092A US 5699092 A US5699092 A US 5699092A US 8237993 A US8237993 A US 8237993A US 5699092 A US5699092 A US 5699092A
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
recording head
capping
ink
carriage
cleaning
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
US08/082,379
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English (en)
Inventor
Kazuhisa Kawakami
Katsuhiko Iida
Narihiro Oki
Shigenori Fukasawa
Nobuhito Takahashi
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Seiko Epson Corp
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Seiko Epson Corp
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Publication date
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Assigned to SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION reassignment SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: FUKASAWA, SHIGENORI, IIDA, KATSUHIKO, KAWAKAMI, KAZUHISA, OKI, NARIHIRO, TAKAHASHI, NOBUHITO
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Classifications

    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/165—Prevention or detection of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
    • B41J2/16505—Caps, spittoons or covers for cleaning or preventing drying out
    • B41J2/16508—Caps, spittoons or covers for cleaning or preventing drying out connected with the printer frame
    • B41J2/16511—Constructions for cap positioning
    • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
    • B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
    • B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
    • B41J2/00—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed
    • B41J2/005—Typewriters or selective printing mechanisms characterised by the printing or marking process for which they are designed characterised by bringing liquid or particles selectively into contact with a printing material
    • B41J2/01—Ink jet
    • B41J2/135—Nozzles
    • B41J2/165—Prevention or detection of nozzle clogging, e.g. cleaning, capping or moistening for nozzles
    • B41J2/16517—Cleaning of print head nozzles
    • B41J2002/16576—Cleaning means pushed or actuated by print head movement

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an ink-jet recording device which includes a recording head movable in the width direction of recording paper and which expels ink droplets onto the recording paper to form an image thereon and, in particular, an ink-jet recording device which includes capping means and cleaning means for maintaining the ink expelling ability of the recording head.
  • the ink-jet recording device which expels ink, which is pressurized in a pressure chamber, onto recording paper as ink droplets to thereby record print data.
  • ink solvent easily evaporates from a nozzle opening, which increases the viscosity of the ink and causes the ink to dry.
  • dust can be easily attached to the ink, and air bubbles can be mixed into the ink.
  • printing quality can be poor in the conventional ink-jet recording device.
  • the ink-jet recording device of this type includes capping means for sealing the nozzle opening during the non-printing time and cleaning means for cleaning the vicinity of the nozzle opening an demand.
  • Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei No. 1-125239 discloses a device, having a capping means, in which a sled to be pushed and moved by a carriage in a home position is moved along an inclined guide surface in a frame to the nozzle opening surface of a recording head, and a cap formed of an elastic member provided on the surface of the sled is pushed against the recording head to thereby seal the opening of the nozzle.
  • Examined Japanese Patent Publication Hei No. 2-13910 of Heisei discloses means for pressing a cap against a recording head, in which two arms forming a parallelogram are interposed between a frame and the cap, and the cap is moved by a carriage in the horizontal direction and also in the direction of the recording head, that is, in the vertical direction.
  • Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Sho No. 59-103762 discloses an inverted-L-shaped head protect which is supported in a home position in such a manner that it is rotatable, the protect cover rotated by a carriage which has moved to the home position, thereby pressing a cap provided at one end of the protect cover against a recording head.
  • this device can provide a positive sealing effect even on a recording device in which the distance between a platen and a printing head is adjustable.
  • the relative movements produced between the recording head and cap cause the cap to be deformed unnecessarily, which facilitates the breakage or damage of the cap.
  • Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication Hei No. 2-518 discloses cleaning means, in which a cleaning member, which is used to rub the nozzle surface of a recording head in two kinds of modes, is disposed in the vicinity of a cap device in such a manner that it can be advanced and retreated toward and away from the recording head.
  • an object of the present invention to provide an ink-jet recording device in which a capping operation and the advance and retreat of a cleaning member are executed by the movement of a carriage to thereby be able to provide a compact ink expelling ability maintaining and recovering means.
  • an ink-jet recording device which comprises cap support means disposed out of a printing area and pressed by a carriage to move between a non-capping position and a capping position, shift means for shifting the cap support means to the nozzle surface of a recording head in a process of the recording head moving from the non-capping position to the capping position, cleaning material support means for moving between a non-cleaning position and a cleaning position by the movement of the carriage, the cleaning material support means being movably mounted to the cap support means, and suction means for supplying a negative pressure to the cap means to thereby suck ink from the cap into a waste ink tank.
  • the capping support means moves to the side of the recording head to bring a cap member into elastic contact with the front surface of the recording head. Also, if the moving mode of the recording head is changed, then the cleaning member support member is moved in a recording head moving path to thereby contact the recording head. In this condition, by advancing or returning the recording head, the recording head can be rubbed with different cleaning members to thereby remove dust and other foreign matters from the recording head.
  • FIG. 1 is a top plan view of an embodiment of an ink-jet recording device according to the invention.
  • FIG. 2 is a side view of an embodiment of an ink-jet recording device according to the invention.
  • FIG. 3 (a) is a schematic view of the above device with a capping device as the center thereof, which shows a state in which a recording head exists in a printing area;
  • FIG. 3 (b) is a schematic view of the above device with a capping device as the center thereof, which shows a state in which the recording head exists in a wait position;
  • FIG. 4 (a) is a view of an embodiment of a cap member forming a part of the capping device, which shows a view of a section of the cap member parallel to the moving path of a recording head;
  • FIG. 4 (b) is a view of an embodiment of a cap member forming a part of the capping device, which shows a view of the section thereof perpendicular to the recording head moving path;
  • FIG. 5 is view of an embodiment of a cam surface of a cleaning device employed in the invention.
  • FIG. 6 is a section view of an embodiment of a suction pump employed in the invention.
  • FIG. 7 is a side view of the above suction pump
  • FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a relation between the position of the recording head and the operations of the capping device and cleaning device;
  • FIGS. 9 (a) and (b) are respectively explanatory views of the operations of the above devices.
  • FIGS. 10 (a) and (b) are respectively explanatory views of the operations of the above devices.
  • FIG. 11 is an explanatory view of the operation of a cleaning member support frame caused by a flag piece of a carriage.
  • FIGS. 1 and 2 are respectively a top plan view and a side view of an ink-jet recording device according to the invention.
  • reference numeral 1 designates a carriage which is supported by a guide shaft 2 and is allowed to reciprocate in the width direction of recording paper when it is driven by a pulse motor (not shown).
  • the carriage 1 carries therein a recording head 3 for expelling ink droplets in such a manner that, in the present embodiment, the nozzle opening of the recording head faces downward.
  • the carriage 1 also includes in its printing area outer end portion a flag piece la which can be selectively contacted with a remove piece 64 and an engagement piece 31 to be described later.
  • a paper feed roller 4 is supported by a drive shaft 5 and is connected through a ring array 6 to a paper feed motor 7.
  • a capping device 10 is disposed out of the printing area and is mounted on a base member 11, so as to be capable of moving between a capping position and a non-capping position in accordance with the movement of the recording head 3, as will be described later.
  • the capping device 10 includes on its printing area a cap member 12 and, on its outer side, a valve mechanism 14 (see FIGS. 3(a), 3(b)) which communicates the cap member 12 with an air release port 13.
  • a cleaning member 17 is composed of a rubber plate 17a suitable for a wiping operation and a sponge member 17b suitable for a rubbing operation. They are bonded to each other in such a manner that the rubber plate 17a is disposed on the outer side and the sponge member 17b is situated on the printing area side.
  • a cleaning device 15 is movably mounted to shafts 16, 16 respectively provided on the two sides of the capping device 10. Similarly to the capping device 10, the cleaning device 15 moves between a cleaning position and a non-cleaning position in accordance with the movement of the recording head 3, and the cleaning, member 17 formed of an elastic plate material is fixed to the leading end side or printing area side of the cleaning device 15.
  • a suction pump 20 communicates with the cap member 12 and a waste ink tank 22 by means of a tube 21 forming a part of the pump and also which is connected to the paper feed motor 7 through a ring array 23.
  • FIGS. 3 (a) and (b) are views of the above embodiment of the invention in which the capping device 10 is shown as the center of the embodiment.
  • FIG. 3 (a) illustrates a state in which the recording head 3 exists in the printing area
  • FIG. 3 (b) illustrates a state in which the recording head 3 exists in the home position.
  • the cap member 12 is provided on a slider 26 which is movable in the moving direction of the recording head 3 in parallel to a base member 25 and is also movable in the vertical direction.
  • the slider 26 includes a projection 27 (see FIG. 4 (a)) provided on the lower surface thereof, which projection 27 is movable along the base member 25 as its slidable surface.
  • the projection 27 is also energized in two directions, that is, in the upward direction and in the direction of the printing area by a bending spring 29 (see FIGS. 9 (a, 9 (b)) disposed on the printing area side.
  • the bending spring 29 is mounted on a link 28 provided on the base member 25 and is placed between the link 28 and base member 25.
  • the surface to be slided by the projection 27 of the slider includes an inclined surface 25a with the printing area side as the bottom and a plane 25b (see FIG. 10 (a)) disposed at a height to push the cap member 12 against the recording head 3 when the recording head 3 reaches the home position.
  • the slider 26 includes in the two sides thereof guides 30, 30 respectively spread out toward the printing area to the width of the recording head 3, and in the outer end portion thereof an engagement piece 31 to be contacted by a flag piece la of the carriage 1 (as shown in FIG. 10 (a)).
  • the cap member 12 is constructed in the form of an elastic cup which includes in the upper surface thereof an air intake port 41 in communication with the air release port 13 through a piece 40 and a suction port 42 to which a negative pressure from the pump 20 is applied.
  • the air intake port 41 is connected to the air release port 13 by a pipe conduit 43, while the suction port 42 is connected to the pump tube 21 by a pipe conduit 44.
  • the pipe conduits 43 and 44 are formed by injection molding so that they can be integral with the elastic cup.
  • a valve seat portion In the leading end portion where the air release port 13 is formed, there is formed a valve seat portion in such a manner that it can be closed by a valve body 52 to be described later.
  • a tube forming the other pipe conduit 44 is connected to the pump tube 21 by means of a connecting through hole 45 formed in the slider 26.
  • This structure allows the frame body 61 (described later) to receive a reaction force generated from a tube 21 with the movement of the recording head 3, which prevents a useless force from acting on the slider 28 and cap member 12 and prevents the slider 26 and cap member 12 from being shifted.
  • the cap member 12 is stored in a receive member 46 formed of a highly rigid material such as macromolecule and the like so that a part of the edge of the cap member 12 forming the opening thereof can be exposed. Also, the cap member 12 stores therein an ink absorber 47 formed of a porous material which can absorb ink.
  • the receive member 46 includes in the upper portion thereof two arms 46a, 46a respectively extending perpendicularly to the moving direction of the recording head 3 and in the bottom portion thereof a hemispherical recessed portion 46b.
  • the upper portion of the cap member 12 is loosely fitted with the slider 26 by means of the two arms 46a, 46a, while the bottom portion thereof is loosely fitted into a hemispherical projection 48 projecting out from the slider 26. Due to this, regardless of the attitude of the recording head 3, the cap member 11 can be tightly contacted with the front surface of the recording head 3.
  • the capping device 10 includes the above-mentioned valve mechanism which includes a valve body 52 disposed opposed to the air release port 13 and mounted to one end of a guide rod 51 always energized toward the air release port 13 by a spring 50, a drive rod 54 energized outwardly by a spring 53 stronger than the spring 50 in such a manner that the opposite side portion thereof to the printing area is always projected out from the cap member 12, and engagement pieces 55, 56 respectively for engaging the guide rod 51 with the drive rod 54.
  • the valve mechanism 14 when the drive rod 54 is pushed by the movement of the recording head 3 into a condition shown in FIG. 3 (b), then the valve body 52 loses its braking force and thus it is abutted against the air release port 13 only by the energization force of the spring 50.
  • FIGS. 3 (a), 3 (b) shows a cleaning device 15 which includes the cleaning member 17. More particularly, the cleaning member 17 is disposed in a frame body 61 (see FIG. 7) which is supported in such a manner that an elongated groove 60 (as shown in FIG. 9) formed in one surface thereof and a round hole (not shown) formed in the other surface thereof are loosely fitted over the shafts 16, 16 respectively provided on the two sides of the slider 26 supporting the cap member 12 and also which is swingable about the round hole in the vertical direction as well as in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording head 3.
  • the frame body 61 includes a projection 57 which extends downwardly nearer to the center of the leading end portion of the printing side thereof and also which is always energized downwardly toward the printing area by a tension spring 63 provided between the slider 26 and itself. Also, the frame body 61 includes a remove piece 64 and cam surface 65 which are formed respectively on the two sides thereof facing each other with the moving path of the recording head between them. The remove piece 64 is formed in a triangle which has a recording head passing side as a vertex. When the inclined surfaces 64a, (see FIG.
  • the frame body 61 is caused to swing in a horizontal direction to thereby remove the engagement between the cam surface 65 and a cam follower 69 to be described later.
  • the height of the remove piece 64 is selected to be higher than the guides 30, 30 of the slider 26 to thereby prevent the flag piece 1a of the carriage 1 from contacting the guides 30, 30.
  • FIG. 5 shows an embodiment of the above-mentioned cam surface which includes a first inclined surface 71 forming a first path which is used to guide the frame body 61 upwardly when it is pushed by the carriage 1 in a direction going out of the printing area from a stable point P1 at which it contacts the carriage 1 while the carriage 1 is put in its non-contact condition, a second inclined surface 72 forming a second path which extends from the lower end of the first inclined surface 71 horizontally in a direction extending toward outside the printing area, a third inclined surface 73 forming a third path which is used to raise the frame body 61 to a cleaning position, a fourth inclined surface 74 used to hold the frame body 61 at the cleaning position, and a fifth inclined surface 75 for guiding a cam follower 69 to the first inclined surface 71.
  • a first inclined surface 71 forming a first path which is used to guide the frame body 61 upwardly when it is pushed by the carriage 1 in a direction going out of the printing area from a stable point
  • first and second inclined surfaces 71 and 72 respectively have a section of a right-angled triangle so that the frame body 61 can get over them when it is moved in the directions shown by arrows 76 and 77.
  • the fourth inclined surface 74 has a height selected so that the cam follower 69 can get over it when the frame body 61 is swung.
  • the stable point P1 is set at a position where the cleaning member 17 is not in contact with the nozzle surface of the recording head, while a quasi-stable point P2 is set at a position having a level difference H from the stable point P1 so that the cleaning member 17 can contact the nozzle front surface of the recording head at the quasi-stable point P2.
  • FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the above-mentioned suction pump 20.
  • the suction pump 20 is constructed as a so called peristaltic pump in which the outside of the pump tube 21 connecting the cap member 12 with the waste ink tank 22 is held by a case 80 in such a manner that the pump tube outside can be almost circular, and the inner peripheral surface thereof is elastically pressed by two rollers 82, 82 respectively mounted rotatably to a drive panel 81 in such a manner that a rotary shaft 81a is put between the two rollers 82.
  • the two rollers 82, 82 as shown in FIG.
  • a plate member 83 having a small coefficient of friction, which is formed of macromolecule mixed with a lubricant such as molybdenum or the like.
  • the plate member 83 is used to reduce friction between the drive panel 81 and tube 21.
  • the drive panel 81 includes in the outer periphery thereof a gear 81c which is connected to the paper feed motor 7 through a ring array 23.
  • 85, 86 respectively designate differential gears mounted eccentrically on the shaft of the drive panel 81 to reduce the rotation of the drive panel 81 at a given ratio and then transmit the reduced rotation to a valve mechanism operation piece 88.
  • the reducing ratio is selected as a value, for example, 6400 to 1, which makes it possible for a spring provided between the base member 25 and the operation piece 88 to retreat the operation piece 88 from a position opposed to the drive rod 54.
  • the carriage 1 In the waiting state, if the power supply turns on, then at first the carriage 1 is moved to the printing area side to thereby cause the recording head 3 to pass through a cleaner set position (a position ii shown in FIG. 8) and move to an air suction position (a position iii shown in FIG. 8). In this moving process, the slider 26 moves along the plane 25b and, therefore, the cap member 12 continues to seal the front surface of the recording head 3. At this position, the valve body 52 is retreated from the air release port 13 by the drive rod 54.
  • the paper feed motor 7 is rotated forwardly and the rotational movement of the paper feed motor 7 is transmitted through the ring array 6 to the suction pump 20, so that the drive panel 81 of the pump 20 is rotated in a direction of an arrow A shown in FIG. 7.
  • the rotation of the drive panel 81 moves the rollers 82, 82 outwardly along the elongated grooves 81b, 81b to thereby rub the tube 21 and thus generate a negative pressure.
  • the air release port 13 is open, waste ink possibly remaining in the absorber 47 and tube 21 can be discharged into the waste ink tank 22 without applying the negative pressure to the recording head 3. This can prevent air bubbles from entering the nozzle in the capping operation.
  • the carriage 1 After completion of the suction for a given period of time, the carriage 1 is moved toward the printing area.
  • the slider 26 follows the movement of the carriage 1 due to the energization forces of the springs 29 and 63 and moves along the plane 25b to the printing area.
  • the slider 26 reaches the inclined surface 25a and thus it goes downward, which causes the cap member 12 to part from the front surface of the recording head 3.
  • the carriage 1 Inverts its moving direction and then moves toward outside the printing area. As a result of this, the cam follower 69 rises through the inclined surfaces 71, 72 and 73 (See FIG. 9 (b)).
  • the frame body 61 is raised up by the height H. Due to the raise of the frame body 61, the cleaning member 17 is also raised up and is set at a position where it can be contacted with the front surface of the recording head 3 (See FIG. 10 (a)). In this state, if the carriage 1 is further moved toward the printing area, then a rubber plate 17a is positioned upside and is abutted against the recording head 3, so that the vicinity of the nozzle opening of the recording head 2 is wiped to thereby remove ink droplets attached thereto due to suction or flushing.
  • the printing operation by the recording head 3 is temporarily stopped and the recording head 3 is moved toward the home position.
  • the flag piece 1a of the carriage 1 passes through the remove piece 64 and then the recording head 3 arrives at the guides 30, 30.
  • the slider 26 is guided by the guides 30, 30 so that it is positioned at the center of the recording head 3.
  • the carriage 1 moves further and thus the flag piece la comes in contact with the engagement piece 31 so that the recording head 3 is positioned at a flushing position (a position shown by v in FIG.
  • the suction pump 20 is put into operation.
  • the waste ink absorbed by the ink absorber 47 in the flushing operation can be discharged out into the waste ink tank 22.
  • the rotation of the suction pump 20 in the ink discharge process is also transmitted to the differential gears 85, 85 and the number of operations thereof is accumulated.
  • the slider 26 On completion of the air suction, if the recording head 3 is moved toward the printing area, then the slider 26, as described before, is caused to follow the movement of the carriage 1 by the energization force of the spring 29 and is moved along the plane 25b to the printing area.
  • the slider 26 moves to a given position, then it arrives at the inclined surface 25a along which it is then moved downwardly, so that the cap member 12 is caused to part from the front surface of the recording head 3.
  • the carriage 1 At a stage where the engagement between the cap member 12 and recording head 3 is completely removed, the carriage 1 inverts its moving direction and then moves toward outside the printing area. This causes the cam follower 69 to move upwardly through the inclined surface 71, 72 and 73 (see FIG. 9 (b)).
  • the frame body 61 is lifted up by a height H.
  • the cleaning member 17 is also lifted up and is set at a position where it can contact the front surface of the recording head 3 (see FIG. 10 (a)).
  • the carriage 1 is further moved toward the printing area, then it comes in contact with the recording head 3 with the blade member 17a positioned on the upper surface side thereof, so that the vicinity of the nozzle opening of the recording head 3 is wiped to thereby remove the ink droplets that are attached to the nozzle opening due to the flushing operation.
  • the carriage 1 is moved toward the wait position.
  • the slider 26 goes upwardly along the inclined surface 25a as the recording head 3 moves. If the slider 26 goes further toward outside the printing area, then the passing of the recording head 3 in this process can be detected by home position detect means (not shown). After a signal is output from the home position detect means, if the carriage 1 is further moved a given amount toward outside the printing area, that is, a deceleration distance necessary to decelerate from a given speed to stop, then the projection 27 of the slider 26 reaches the plane 25b, and the cap member 12 is elastically abutted against the front surface of the recording head 3.
  • the drive rod 54 is abutted against the valve mechanism operation piece 88.
  • the carriage 1 is caused to stop and is set at its wait position (a position shown by i in FIG. 8).
  • the support by the guide rod 51 is removed and thus the air release port 13 is sealed by the valve body 52 due to the energization force of the spring 50, and the carriage 1 or the recording head 3 is prepared for the next printing operation in a condition where the drying of the ink in the nozzle opening is prevented.
  • the position of the recording head 3 can be detected by the home position detect means in a stage before it returns to the wait position and, therefore, it is possible to set again an accurate moving distance to the wait position with the home position detect position as a reference.
  • the recording head 3 can be positioned at the wait position with accuracy and thus the cap member 12 can be positively abutted against the recording head 3.
  • the recording paper can be handled according to the position of the recording head 3, which makes it possible to prevent the recording paper from being loaded at the improper position of the recording head 3 and thus to prevent too many sheets of recording paper from being supplied together.
  • the suction operation and the recording paper loading operation are executed by switching the direction of rotation of the same motor 7, then the reliability can be improved to a great extent.
  • the cleaning member 17 is raised according a procedure similar to the above-mentioned wiping operation and the recording head 3 is moved to the printing area. Then, the carriage 1 is moved in an opposite direction (a direction of an arrow C shown in FIG. 10 (b)) to the wiping operation. As a result of this, with the rubbing member 17b as the upper surface thereof, the cleaning member 17 is abutted against the front surface of the recording head 3.
  • valve mechanism piece 88 When the amount of accumulation of the waste ink accumulated by the above-mentioned flushing operation and the forced suction of ink from the nozzle openings reaches the capacity of the waste ink tank 22, then the valve mechanism piece 88 is caused to retreat from the position of the drive rod 54 by the differential gears 85, 86 (a state shown by reference character 78' in FIG. 7). For this reason, even if the recording head 3 is capped, the drive rod 54 cannot be pressed by the valve mechanism operation piece 88. This allows the air release port 13 to be in communication with the air and thus there is eliminated the possibility that the negative pressure from the suction pump 20 can be increased up to a degree to be able to suck out ink from the recording head 3 forcibly. As a result of this, the waste ink is prevented from flowing over from the waste ink tank 22, which in turn makes it possible to prevent the interiors of a printer box from being contaminated and a circuit substrate from being short circuited.
  • the remove piece is pressed by the carriage.
  • a similar action can be provided even when the remove piece is pressed by the recording head.
  • an ink jet recording device that includes cap support means which is disposed out of a printing area and, when pushed by a carriage, can be moved between a non-capping position and a capping position, shift means which, in a process where a recording head is moved from the non-capping position to the capping position, displaces the cap support means, cleaning member support means which is swingably mounted to the cap support means and moves between a non-cleaning position and a cleaning position in accordance with the movement of the carriage, and suction means which supplies a negative pressure to the cap means to thereby suck out ink within a cap into a waste ink tank.
  • the parts necessary for the capping operation and cleaning operation can be moved to and from a recording head moving path only by means of the movement of the carriage or recording head. This makes it possible to simplify and make compact drive means for an ink expelling ability keeping and recovering device.

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US08/082,379 1992-06-26 1993-06-28 Ink-jet recording device Expired - Lifetime US5699092A (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP19340392A JP3159225B2 (ja) 1992-06-26 1992-06-26 インクジェット記録装置
JPHEI4-193403 1992-06-26

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US5699092A true US5699092A (en) 1997-12-16

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US08/082,379 Expired - Lifetime US5699092A (en) 1992-06-26 1993-06-28 Ink-jet recording device

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US (1) US5699092A (de)
EP (2) EP0576033B1 (de)
JP (1) JP3159225B2 (de)
DE (2) DE69327065T2 (de)
SG (2) SG52582A1 (de)

Cited By (11)

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US5889536A (en) * 1995-03-22 1999-03-30 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet device with a head and purge mechanism for cleaning the head
US5992966A (en) * 1996-11-22 1999-11-30 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet recording apparatus
US6220314B1 (en) * 1998-10-27 2001-04-24 Toshiba Tec Kabushiki Kaisha Waste-ink collecting apparatus
US6234616B1 (en) 1997-06-17 2001-05-22 Seiko Epson Corporation Mechanism for opening or closing ink supply passage in ink-jet printer
US6315386B1 (en) 2000-05-24 2001-11-13 Lexmark International, Inc. Ink jet maintenance station having acoustic dampening
US6517185B1 (en) 2001-03-09 2003-02-11 Lexmark International, Inc. Low force ink jet printhead capping system
US6578949B2 (en) * 2000-09-13 2003-06-17 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink jet recording device and method of driving and controlling the same
KR100487165B1 (ko) * 2002-09-11 2005-05-03 주식회사 디지아이 디지털 프린팅 머신용 흡입장치
US20060119641A1 (en) * 2004-12-06 2006-06-08 Berry Norman M Capping/purging system for inkjet printhead assembly
WO2006060845A1 (en) * 2004-12-06 2006-06-15 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Capping/purging system for inkjet printhead assembly
US20120169809A1 (en) * 2011-01-05 2012-07-05 Seiko Epson Corporation Liquid ejecting apparatus

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JP3467716B2 (ja) 1995-05-25 2003-11-17 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェット記録ヘッド用キャッピング装置
GB2311041B (en) * 1995-06-13 1998-03-11 Seiko Epson Corp Ink jet type recording apparatus
JP3173556B2 (ja) * 1995-06-13 2001-06-04 セイコーエプソン株式会社 インクジェット記録装置
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EP0845360B1 (de) * 1996-11-29 2003-05-21 Seiko Epson Corporation Verschliessvorrichtung und Tintenstrahlgerät unter Verwendung derselben
EP0867295B1 (de) * 1997-03-25 2003-01-15 Seiko Epson Corporation Tintenstrahlaufzeichnungsgerät und Tintenabsaugungsverfahren für den Aufzeichnungskopf
JP4530124B2 (ja) * 2003-10-02 2010-08-25 セイコーエプソン株式会社 記録装置、液体噴射装置
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US5889536A (en) * 1995-03-22 1999-03-30 Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet device with a head and purge mechanism for cleaning the head
US5992966A (en) * 1996-11-22 1999-11-30 Canon Kabushiki Kaisha Ink jet recording apparatus
US6234616B1 (en) 1997-06-17 2001-05-22 Seiko Epson Corporation Mechanism for opening or closing ink supply passage in ink-jet printer
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US6315386B1 (en) 2000-05-24 2001-11-13 Lexmark International, Inc. Ink jet maintenance station having acoustic dampening
US6578949B2 (en) * 2000-09-13 2003-06-17 Seiko Epson Corporation Ink jet recording device and method of driving and controlling the same
US6517185B1 (en) 2001-03-09 2003-02-11 Lexmark International, Inc. Low force ink jet printhead capping system
KR100487165B1 (ko) * 2002-09-11 2005-05-03 주식회사 디지아이 디지털 프린팅 머신용 흡입장치
US20060119641A1 (en) * 2004-12-06 2006-06-08 Berry Norman M Capping/purging system for inkjet printhead assembly
WO2006060845A1 (en) * 2004-12-06 2006-06-15 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Capping/purging system for inkjet printhead assembly
US7357476B2 (en) 2004-12-06 2008-04-15 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Capping/purging system for inkjet printhead assembly
US20080158299A1 (en) * 2004-12-06 2008-07-03 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Duplex Printer With Intermediate Fluid Distribution Arrangement
US8104882B2 (en) 2004-12-06 2012-01-31 Silverbrook Research Pty Ltd Duplex printer with intermediate fluid distribution arrangement
US20120169809A1 (en) * 2011-01-05 2012-07-05 Seiko Epson Corporation Liquid ejecting apparatus
CN102582250A (zh) * 2011-01-05 2012-07-18 精工爱普生株式会社 液体喷射装置
US8511791B2 (en) * 2011-01-05 2013-08-20 Seiko Epson Corporation Liquid ejecting apparatus
CN102582250B (zh) * 2011-01-05 2015-07-08 精工爱普生株式会社 液体喷射装置

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DE69315126D1 (de) 1997-12-18
EP0576033B1 (de) 1997-11-12
DE69327065D1 (de) 1999-12-23
SG99848A1 (en) 2003-11-27
JPH068460A (ja) 1994-01-18
EP0788884A3 (de) 1997-11-05
DE69327065T2 (de) 2000-07-06
SG52582A1 (en) 1998-09-28
EP0576033A3 (de) 1994-03-30
EP0576033A2 (de) 1993-12-29
DE69315126T2 (de) 1998-05-20
EP0788884A2 (de) 1997-08-13
JP3159225B2 (ja) 2001-04-23
EP0788884B1 (de) 1999-11-17

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